Are We Human?
by Advon
Summary: Where exactly are the lines between human, shinigami, and hollow?  The final battle played out the same way we all saw. The differences, however, lie in the aftermath. Now, Ichigo struggles to answer this very question.
1. Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

**Legal Disclaimer:** I am not, in fact, the owner of any Bleach Characters or Settings, nor for the plot that precedes this fic.

**General Disclaimer: **So my first fic was written several months ago and was a giant angstfest. For those of you interested in that from this fic, I apologize. My tragedies will always be either one-shots or otherwise very short. I don't like to drag out my tragedies.

This fic, while it maybe not outright hilarious, will be generally lighthearted. Not to say it won't have its serious moments.

Anyways, I'm more familiar with the Subs and the fanlations than the dubs. So that's where I'll take my cues, in general. In the same way, Manga supersedes anime. Except when I say otherwise. Helpful, right?

Also, there are differences elsewhere. I'll point them out as they come up. They're all relatively minor and occur during the Hueco Mundo arc.

Also, pairings? Who knows. But Ichigo/Orihime is not looking too likely.

One final thing. I'm undecided on most of the movies...but Memories of Nobody undeniably happened. Whether that actually plays a part remains to be seen.

On With the show!

**Chapter 1: Setting the Stage**

Nobody understands Sosuke Aizen.

Soul Society may _believe_ they understand his thought process and motivations, with theories ranging from megalomania to an extreme form of 'The ends justify the means', but the truth is that they in no way understand just who Aizen is.

To be completely honest, Aizen doesn't know either.

That's not to say some people haven't discovered small facets of him. Kurosaki Ichigo was not wrong in his identification of Aizen's loneliness. He just couldn't fully understand _why_ Aizen felt this way.

The truth is simple. By conventional logic, Aizen is insane.

To clarify: Aizen's brain works in a completely different way from how everyone else's does.

There's a fairly simple reason for this. At one point even Aizen had little to no idea about what it meant to have a powerful sentient sword. Depressingly, that did not remove his need to be taught.

Worse still, considering the fact that no one, not even Hirako Shinji, had a sword as all-encompassing and complex as Kyoka Suigetsu, there was only one being Aizen could possibly learn all the nuances of his shikai from. Kyoka Suigetsu itself was the only being that could truly teach him.

Thus, Aizen retreated into his mind, for untold hours and days, running mental obstacle courses, challenges, and puzzles, all for the sake of understanding and mastering the unique power this sword gave. Thousands upon thousands of hours were spent in mental combat with the spirit, until Right was down, Up was fish, Left wouldn't stop gibbering madly and Wrong had long since lost its grip and was flung from the car.

On the one hand, this meant that no one could possibly understand him.

On the other hand, it meant that when he developed a plan, he had no fewer than nine different contingency plans, each with their own accompanying sets until his enemies would be crushed under the oppressive weight of the minutia.

No matter how he lost, Aizen would never truly and completely go down in flames. There was _always_ a backup plan.

Like how his prison cell was actually more akin to a five star hotel, with a convenient array of monitoring devices from which he could monitor his other contingency plans. Namely the one he's on. Plan: I, Subset: Loss, Version: 372B.

He liked this plan so very much, and had been saddened that it would seemingly never get used.

'Although,' Aizen considered, 'I do recall something about Kurosaki losing his powers after he attempted to obliterate me from existence. While, in his defense, he made an admiral attempt that could have succeeded had it been used even one form prior to the one I was in, but if that was the price, it was too high. I just hope this plan doesn't kill him _too _quickly. That would be boring.'

* * *

><p>Inoue Orihime was depressed as she made an only mildly abnormal lunch in her empty-feeling home, a week after Aizen's defeat.<p>

She had many reasons to be saddened, considering she appeared to have fallen out of love. Or rather, her fear was overpowering her love.

It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. She had a perfect plan all laid out for her very own picture perfect schoolgirl romance. Choose an unreachable guy. Pine for him. Revel in the safety and security of a relationship that will never happen, whilst indulging in daydreams and fantasies. Move on when she's emotionally ready to handle a real relationship.

And then she got kidnapped.

Thus began Ichigo's unintentional obliteration of her plan.

First off, a knight in shining armor dove straight into the world-stronghold for the sole purpose of rescuing her? No way in hell's that staying a normal crush. She quickly found her feelings deepen far beyond what she was comfortable with, between the overwhelming warmth and the far greater worry.

Second off, he died. Even if his soul hadn't fully registered that fact, Orihime knew. She hadn't healed him; she brought him back from the dead. The damage was too great for it to have been anything else.

And then he had to go put on that atrocious mask. The emotional whiplash and just disconcerting _evil_ of that mask brought up an ugly fear, not for Ichigo, but of him. Thankfully between Nel's arguments and the fact that he risked bodily harm to protect her, Orihime was able to compartmentalize the mask as "An evil thing that Ichigo is just temporarily using" in her head.

And then Ichigo died. Again.

This time, it was not Orihime who revived him. This time, it was not Ichigo behind that mask.

This time, Orihime felt not fear, but true terror. Terror at the beast that obliterated her jailor, another who she could not decide whether to love or fear. Terror at the beast that tried to attack Ishida. Terror at the sheer overwhelming amount of power required to temporarily subdue that beast

And there was no Nel this time to call her bullshit. So the Terror remained.

'_I still shake merely thinking about Ichigo. Every time I see him, I can only see that __**monster**__.__ It doesn't even matter that the monster is gone, lost with his shinigami powers.__'_

Thankfully, the fear at least seemed to be deteriorating, albeit slowly. '_I can only hope, if Ichigo ever regains his powers, that form doesn't come with it.'_

All this left was the other reason she was depressed. Namely the fact that she had not only been kidnapped, but was completely incapable of escaping or really doing much besides putting Ichigo back together. Again. And again. And again. That's all she could ever do. Ignoring the shudder that ran through her, Orihime's thoughts continued. _'No matter how often I put him__, or any of them, back together, no matter what I do; I can't stop any of them from breaking. All I can do is pick up the pieces when they're done. I…I can't keep doing this! I can't keep watching them get hurt!_

_But how? How can I help them more than I am? I can't fight alongside them. I've crippled my only means of attack. Why oh why must I feel so bad about hurting people?_

_Unless…I don't have to attack to fight. What other ways can I help them…'_

As she started slathering mustard onto her peanut butter, sausage and onion sandwich, Orihime began discussing and strategizing other uses for her powers aside from the standard three.

* * *

><p>Ishida Uryuu was annoyed. This was a very common state for him to be in. Oddly, this was at himself.<p>

'_What on ear__th possessed me into thinking that bringing __Cirucci Sanderwicci__ home was a good idea?'_

That was not a difficult question to answer, all things considered. It had been as he walked out, that Cirucci called him a hypocrite, clearly more loudly than she had planned. Considering he did on some level respect the woman, Ishida first tried to figure out why she would call him that first. Truthfully, he expected 'misogynist' or perhaps 'naïve fool', rather than hypocrite.

This was not a difficult question to answer either. All it took was to remember where he was. He was in the ruling citadel of Heuco Mundo. He was in a world of cannibals, in the fortress of those who had proven the best or at least most efficient cannibals. And he was currently walking away from someone he had just removed all power from.

Cirucci would be lucky if she survived a full day. The only question would be if she would be conscious when it happened.

It was good then, that not only had Ishida prepared a means of emergency escape (considering that last time they infiltrated an enemy citadel, Urahara hadn't prepared them a method to return aside from "Make the shinigami your semi-friends"), but that he had made spares, just in case.

In any case, she was thankfully unconscious in her hospital bed. Unfortunately that meant it was only a matter of time until the elder Ishida found her.

The question that remained was not "What will happen when she wakes up and his father finds her," but "Who will manage to survive the confrontation?" It certainly won't be one Uryuu Ishida, all things considered.

And then there was the question of just how much hollow was still in there? What the hell would she eat?

This was a bad idea. Curse his morals!

* * *

><p>Delicious.<p>

He woke up starving, and smelling something delicious. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered that it was a soul. Three, really. All nicely weaker than him, and all smelling very tasty. Odd though, that there was a fourth scent that seemed very familiar, yet in some ways foreign, but was definitely no soul. Still smelled tasty though.

He crept down the stairs to where the two weaker souls were. Better to take them out now, so they couldn't escape. Or rather try to escape. They really stood no chance of actually outrunning him, but a chase would be annoying at this point.

Of course, he was less than silent. He really felt no need to be. These weaklings could not escape him.

"You're awake! Just in time for breakfast! I'm trying something new! Pancakes!" Ah! The weakest one noticed him! Although she seems entirely less than mortally terrified. But what, pray tell, is on that plate? It smells delicious. Perhaps she means to use it as a distraction to get away? Or perhaps tribute to his power. Amusing. He shall play along. The despair she will feel when it fails will provide him great delight.

But for now, pancakes!

* * *

><p>Arisawa Tatsuki stared bemusedly at Kurosaki Ichigo's seemingly endless, ravenous hunger.<p>

She, Yasutora Sado, aka "Chad", and Ichigo were sitting in a booth at a generic, utterly forgettable café that Ichigo had seemingly chosen at random so the three could talk about whatever it was Ichigo thought was important. Stranger still, the punk's face was completely blank, lacking the trademark scowl. Perhaps this _would_ be a mildly important conversation.

One would think Tatsuki would still be ignoring him, but she had already made it painfully clear that "Childhood Best Friend" status had certain privileges in regards to secrets, and that Ichigo's blatant disregard for these rules would result in pain. Horrible, horrible pain.

Let it never be said that Ichigo never learned, and that Tatsuki held grudges beyond the proper punishment.

Tatsuki was drawn out of amusing (to her) memories, and returned her attention to Ichigo, who finally decided to speak.

"So I found out that apparently, hollows do not _have_ to eat souls." Ichigo commented, before returning to his speed-eating, seemingly satisfied with what he had to say or perhaps still unsure of what to say.

After waiting for the appropriate amount of time to allow Ichigo to expand on this seemingly random statement, Tatsuki exploded. "And? How did you find this out, why was it so important as to drag us over here, rather than going to our usual spot, and _why_ does it matter to _us?_" Tatsuki burst out, making her displeasure known.

"Err; sorry, just trying to figure out the best way to put this. I found this out, because…because I had pancakes this morning." Ichigo continued, a little fearful, his blank mask actually slipping to show his nervousness. "And only pancakes." He mumbled, hoping they would connect the dots from that, rather than force him to say his secret out loud. What he wouldn't give for a way to just teleport the knowledge into their brains, rather than actually have this conversation.

Unfortunately, luck was not on his side, and neither made the rather vague connection. Or at least Tatsuki didn't. Chad rarely reacted to much of anything. On the other hand, Tatsuki's hands quickly found her face. She would _not_ maim Ichigo so soon after last time. She would not!

"And what, pray tell, does you eating pancakes have to do with hollows?" Tatsuki finally ground out.

"Because, while it didn't fill me up, the pancakes curbed my hunger. It's important because _after_ I ate the pancakes, I did _not_ go on to attempting to eat the person who made said pancakes." Ichigo immediately left them to their shock, and returned to one of many delicious sandwiches waiting to be consumed by him, waiting for the explosion he prayed wouldn't happen.

Chad was the first to react.

He gave Ichigo the short upwards nod, a traditional sign of male solidarity, grunted softly, and returned to his sandwich. This was the beginning and the end of his reaction, along with a short but piercing look, enough to convey the message of "I've got your back, and that means taking you down if you do lose yourself to this." He then returned to his sandwich. Good old Chad had decided that this changed nothing of value, as Ichigo had clearly said he did _not_ eat Yuzu, or he would be freaking out much more. And since Ichigo _wasn't_ an unstoppable psychopath that meant all was well in Chad's book. Also, this sandwich is delicious.

Tatsuki, however, had a decidedly less easy to deal with reaction.

"_What? _You mean you're-! But-! But _how?__" _Tatsuki was standing, an inch away from shrieking, which just wouldn't do. She had an image to maintain, even if it was subconsciously.

"Well…Last night, I had a dream."

Tatsuki sat down with a snort. "A Dream? No. There's more to this. I mean, I don't even feel any reiatsu emanating…from…you…" Tatsuki's mouth fell open; remembering the lack of pressure from Ichigo preceded his fight with Aizen.

With an annoyed look that quickly morphed into mild surprise, Ichigo continued. "Really? You don't feel anything? He wasn't lying then. Anyways, here's what happened…"

* * *

><p>Ichigo woke up to the single most confusing sense of gravitational disorientation he'd ever felt, matched only by every other time he'd entered his thrice-damned mindscape. He had thought himself done with all of this soul nonsense, at least until he died. Clearly, someone else had other plans. The only problem was there was no one in here, and he could feel it. The place was empty<p>

Empty except for small answering machine, one that looked like it belonged in America during the seventies. The cultural incongruity and placement was mildly disturbing.

Lacking anything better to do, he pushed play.

Oh, how he had come to _loath_ the watery, distorted voice that started speaking.

"All right Ichigo, listen up and listen good, cause I'm pushing even the time-slowing mechanics of mindscapes to give you this message." It was the snide, other-worldly, utterly obnoxious voice of his hollow. "Anyways, you're probably wondering what the hell's going on, and, unfortunately, I have to be the one to tell you because Zangetsu over there is sulking over your decision." An annoyed grunt from said spirit was quickly covered up by the hollow's continued explanation.

"Short explanation? You're still a hollow. The long explanation? Shinigami powers are always semi-external. Your soul creates or absorbs a being designed regulate and act as a channel for your power. Hollows have no such thing. You have been and always will be a hollow until the day you're either purified or obliterated. I was nothing more than a metaphysical construct Zangetsu made to regulate your instincts. Mind you, that's the simple explanation. Comparing it to the complex explanation is like comparing basic geometry with advanced hyper-geometry."

His voice getting progressively duller, as if reading from a script, the hollow continued. "As for what happened; Mugetsu is basically you overloading Zangetsu. You pushed him beyond his ability to regulate. This burned him out. He's currently in a state between hibernating and destroyed. Since I'm created and live only as he does, I will soon enter the same state. Your Reiatsu, however, is a part of your soul, and will regenerate as if nothing happened. It can do this because there's no technical difference between hollow and shinigami reiatsu, just the shape it gets molded into."

By the end, his hollow was giving watching paint dry a run for its money on dull things to listen to. Thankfully, his voice brightened and with great relief he groaned "Fiiiiinally. I thought that would never end. Anyways, you're a hollow, and probably the most powerful being ever to exist. Try not to crush anyone beneath you're overwhelming power."

And with that, the message stopped.

* * *

><p>"You called <em>that <em>a dream?" Tatsuki deadpanned.

"So I couldn't think of a better way to describe it. It doesn't matter what I called it."

"Whatever. Anyways, what did you mean by hollows eating normal food? They have to eat souls, and…and that means you will too, doesn't it?" Tatsuki countered, starting to look very worried and a little sick to boot.

"When I woke up…I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. It was like if you put a plate of freshly baked muffins in front of a starving man. I could only be diverted by food that was easier to reach and eat. After I finished, I became sane." For an instant, Ichigo's face was consumed by an all-encompassing melancholy and pessimism.

"I…If I'm careful, I'll never eat a soul. Hollows…my guess is, while they're heavily encouraged to, they don't have to. Basically, there are two reasons for why a hollow eats souls. First, they're almost always ravenously hungry. I mean look at me, I've been eating this whole time, and I'm still not full. Anyways, that's enough to easily drive them to eat. The worst part is thus: souls smell very tasty, no matter how weak they are. Combine the best scents you could possibly imagine for prey, and you have very powerful reasons to just eat humans."

A sick look covered Ichigo's face as he continued. "The problem is, from what I've heard, once you eat one, you can't stop. From comments the arrancar have made, it sounds like if you become too weak, like from hunger, the other souls inside you can rise up to try and take control."

Finally, Ichigo's face settled on determination. He gave a hard look at both of his most loyal friends and said, "If I lose myself like that, I can't be stopped. I need your help. We much make sure I'm _never_ hungry enough to eat another soul."

**A/N: Alternate Title: **Yuzu's Saves the Day!


	2. Chapter 2: Setting the Stage Part 2

A/N: Still under a month since I started!

I'd like to once again point out that not only do I not in any way own Bleach, but also that it's entirely possible I'll disappear one day for three years from this account before returning with a single new chapter. I'm not what they call…reliable in my writing. You have been warned.

It should also be noted that my language is foul. I use curse words…a lot. They just seem to fit.

I'd like to take the time to point out that there is not guaranteed pairing. Who ends up with who is really their decision. That's not say some pairings aren't more likely than others, though.

Also, this is a more hollow-centric fic. Will the shinigami play a role? Yes, but not at first. Sorry Ichi/Ruki fans, that's probably the least likely pairing. Though that may have more to do with the fact that I'm a sucker for the childhood friend pairing. Or maybe that, for no discernible reason, I just don't like the pairing. I don't _dis_like it, but I just don't feel an attraction to it.

Chapter 2: Setting the Stage, Part 2

At their core, hollows are creatures of instinct. No matter how highly evolved they are, no matter how well developed their conscious mind is, they will always listen to their subconscious mind first. It is their very nature to live by these "knee-jerk" reactions. This often leads to evil and savagery amongst the weaker hollows, and even the strongest are subject to baser urges for blood and death.

This, perhaps, more than anything, is the base reason for the unyielding hatred hollows and shinigami have for each other, with all other reasons being mere symptoms of this underlying cause. Shinigami are inherently logical and cerebral, sometimes to their detriment.

Regardless, this means that a hollow will trust its subconscious mind over its conscious mind. And while the conscious mind can forget, the conscious mind can be suppressed, the unconscious mind does not. It remembers even what reality itself has decreed invalid.

* * *

><p>What a boring job. So, so dull. Day in, day out. Always in the same damn, grey, depressing warehouse. It was a warehouse split into two halves, each half filled with boxes. On the left were white boxes, on the right were normal cardboard boxes.<p>

Oh, how Akio _hated_ this place. He was supposed to be working in the army, or maybe as an up-and-coming manager in an international company. But no. His job was to remove little packets from the white boxes, then put them in the regular boxes. Finally, he sealed them up and put them in a special corner. The next day, those boxes were gone.

He'd been doing this for the last six months, and by all that was holy and unholy, he would _kill_ the man who gave him this job. Nevermind the extensive contract that had him trapped legally into this job. Nevermind that he was paid exorbitantly enough to far beat any other career he could feasibly obtain. He would find a way out of this job even if it killed him.

* * *

><p>And thus Akio continued his seemingly unimportant job. Across the world, in every major country, at least one person was doing the same job. All to complete but one part in plan I, Subset: Loss, Version: 372B, affectionately known as Plan Clusterfuck.<p>

* * *

><p>It is interesting the reactions his most trusted friends had to his request. Tatsuki seemed to be fighting from allowing "That" look from surfacing. It was a look she had perfected. It was a look that very clearly said, "No, my eyes are not watery, and if you say anything else, I will devote the rest of my life to ensuring your bones are forever in a state referred to as 'shattered'." It was a look that very, very rarely surfaced. But out it came. The contrast of the light-hearted conversation just prior and the request he'd made had destroyed all but her last bastion of emotional control.<p>

Chad handed over his still half-full bag of chips, and continued to eat his sandwich. He preferred to leave the talking to others when prudent, and Tatsuki was sure to as more questions to cover what they needed to know. Besides, talking could wait until he finished his sandwich. Food could be sacred that way.

"So, who else knows about…this. I wouldn't want to accidentally tell anyone who shouldn't know what's going on if I can avoid it." Tatsuki seemed to have recovered, and, true to Chad's predictions, she seemed willing to cover more of his questions.

Ichigo shook his head, not really wanting to get into this. "No one. Not even Orihime and Ishida. Not yet. Some of the things that happened are too recent." He really didn't want to go into how he impaled Ishida, so purposefully left everything vague.

"Alright, I'll leave that story alone for a bit, but you better explain what you're talking about eventually!" Tatsuki conceded to his discomfort, not wanting to strain their still tenuous friendship further by pushing for what sounded like a grim tale. Just because Ichigo was in the wrong this time doesn't mean he couldn't lash out if she pushed too hard.

When he failed to react, however, her ire rose.

"Oi, Ichigo, are you listening?"

Ichigo was not, in fact, listening. His mind had completely shut down on seeing _her _prance in, following herself apparently. He didn't even know who _she_ was. But that didn't stop him from focusing completely on her.

It was not because of her beauty that Ichigo was staring, though she was pretty. No, it had to be because she was wearing a sombrero, a Scottish kilt and a stereotypical Chinese shirt, while shaking maracas whilst singing the Macarena in what was clearly poorly faked Engrish. This while still following a clone of hers, who was in much more sensible clothing. That or just how _familiar_ she seemed.

A name cam unbidden to his mind, one previously lost to his mind. Understandable, considering she was "unwritten" from reality.

"…Senna?"

* * *

><p>This was torture.<p>

10 minutes of clarity, of remembering all the suffering, of being reminded of how everything had gone wrong ever since that bastard Aizen had brought her to an even greater height of power.

Sure, he freed her from the worst of her incessant hunger, but that he allowed Nnoitra's and Szayel's plans to come to fruition eliminated that debt.

In fact, that is what led Neliel Tu Oderschvank to her current decision. She'd had enough. Her old life was one fraught with pain.

Thankfully, she had a very convenient semi-amnesiac child form she could escape into. Now, the only thing was to figure out where to go once the healers prepared by the provisional ruler healed her mask.

* * *

><p>She didn't want this.<p>

She'd made it clear: no one could truly rule Heuco Mundo the way it's supposed to be. All who wanted the power, were unworthy of it. All who would be good rulers didn't want the power.

Which was probably why she was in this mess. Because the very last thing Tia Harribel wanted was to rule over the remaining arrancar, which inevitably led to ruling over the rest of Heuco Mundo.

Which was aggravating. Hollows really shouldn't rule over other hollows. Only really a Vizard had a chance to rule this place successfully, if only because they had Shinigami powers, some order and balance in their soul. Unlike the Arrancar.

Arrancar were not the hybrids everyone seemed to think they were. She was eternally envious of the Vizards simply for the fact that they were undeniably both hollow and shinigami. It's why the Espada lost, really. The Vizards had both a fully functional swords as well as a hollow to call upon. Arrancar were little more than glorified hollows trying to pretend that they could have major powerups when they called a phrase too. The Vizards had the best of both worlds. Arrancar just tried to imitate the shinigami.

That was really one of the things she was going to fix. Shinigami powers had to come from somewhere, and wasn't everyone a human once? She was sure somewhere in her soul, a spirit lay in wait. She would be the first arrancar to achieve shikai, she was sure of it!

* * *

><p>Senna's life was pretty good.<p>

No, wait, scratch that. Her life blew chunks. Not only was her semi-normal existence only a year or so in duration, not only did she have to sacrifice herself to stop the destruction caused by a group of morons trying to gain power, but she got herself removed from time and space for her trouble. Now all she could do was desperately amuse herself whilst following around a girl that was strikingly similar to her. She'd say reincarnation, but that didn't seem to fit since she was still here. And kinda sorta never existed before her time as the Memory Rosary. And that wasn't even getting into the questionable stability and existance of her soul.

The final, rotten, poisoned cherry on top of it all was that _hollows_ did, in fact notice her. This was immediately prior to a usually miserable attempt at eating her. Probably some bullshit about the universe's really low-quality quick-fix removal of her. It's like the universe didn't feel like destroying her, and instead just removed her from the collective consciousness of everyone.

So all she could really do was pretend her life didn't suck, and try and get a few laughs out of doing insane things in clothing that only made sense to her due to her varied memories. And of course work out her frustration by stabbing hollows in uncomfortable places.

Occasionally she'd stalk Ichigo. That was loads of fun. There was almost always some drama or large explosion following him when he wasn't traipsing about in other worlds.

Ironically, she _wasn't_ stalking Ichigo when she walked into a shop that will never be named, though she did notice him immediately.

She was not, however, prepared for him to react.

At first, she thought it was just a weird fluke brought about from seeing her clone. But no, he was looking directly at the non-existant semi-ghost Senna. All she could do was blink owlishly, doing her best impression of a deer in the headlights…if the deer took fashion advice from a drunk (and possibly insane) European tourist.

And then she reacted.

She let out the single most piercing, joyful "Squee" to ever be uttered by a not-quite-sane teenage girl who just found out that the only person in the world capable of interacting with her was her not-so-secret crush. (It should be noted that the sample size for this is disturbingly large) And then she launched herself (Through tables, chairs, and people, mind you, being more or less a ghost) and latched ahold of him, having no idea just _how_ she was able to touch him. Not that she cared.

* * *

><p>Ichigo, for his part, was confused. On the one hand, a girl he doesn't know just latched onto him. On the other hand, he felt like he knew this girl. On the third hand, a <em>very attractive<em> girl just latched onto him. On the fourth hand, Tatsuki and Chad apparently weren't able to see her. Or hear her, for that matter, considering how loud her squeal was.

And then Senna asked a question that filled him with a deep forboding.

"You remember me?"

Quickly deciding that being semi-rude was better than seeming insane, especially considering his recent condition, Ichigo quickly apologized for zoning out, thanked his two most loyal friends, and high-tailed it out of the restaurant, Senna still latched onto him.

Deciding _not_ to seem insane, he pulled out his phone, fiddled with it, and began to talk as he walked.

"You know that feeling you get when you just _know_ there's something you need to do that you've forgotten? That pretty much describes me right now. Sorry, but I really don't remember anything about you. Except that you _might_ be called Senna."

Senna allowed herself 30 seconds of soul-crushing despair to fill her before her mind moved onto more important things. Like Pie. After 10 more seconds, she realized that this was a _conversation_, which implied certain social practices. Like how she was supposed to respond to the implied question of who the hell she was.

"Well, we have met before. You may not remember, because I was kind of sort of written out of reality, but you fought for me and saved me from some horrible people."

Ichigo considered this for a moment, and was about to object to this happening, before realizing this sounded _exactly_ like something he'd do. In fact, he had done it. Twice.

"In fact, that ribbon you carry around was a momento of our time together."

With that, Ichigo realized she was probably telling the truth. Not because she knew he kept the ribbon, but because of the little things. Like the fact that he had no idea where it came from. Or because he knew he _had_ to keep it, in the same way he _knew_ Senna's name. He remembered that day on the bridge when it flew off. He nearly pulled out his bankai to get it back, despite the fact that such a thing would have been complete overkill.

"Well, if you want, feel free to stick around. I probably won't say much when others are around, but it's gotta be better than how it's been for you before."

Senna only grinned a grin of overjoyed madness.

Ichigo only shivered in pure terror over what he had just unleashed on himself.

* * *

><p>It was rather disturbing for Uryuu to realize he was playing nursemaid to a semi-sociopathic psycho-bitch. On the one hand, it was his own fault. On the other hand, his father was <em>going<em> to die. Painfully. Songs and stories would be written to honor his savagery.

And it was all because that absolute _bastard_ had to stick his nose into Uryuu's business. On the one hand, he was happy his father had chosen not to crucify him for bringing an arrancar home. On the other hand, did Ryuken _have _to make her sound like some pet he found on the side of the road?

And that look in his father's eye's just _screamed_ "Oh yes, you're doomed now."

"OI! MANSLAVE! GET OVER HERE! CIRUCCI WANTS HER DINNER."

And to think, he could have just left her to the horrors of cannibalism.

* * *

><p>Ryuken, of course heard the yelling, and chuckled, an act he made sure his son would not see for at least another decade, amused at how similar this was to how he met his own wife.<p>

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><p>AN: This was going to be a very different Ryuken. Then out of the sky, this story of Uryuu's mother began to form in my head. And I knew it had to be done, and would be far more amusing and less angsty than what I originally had planned for the reasons why Ryuken was so anti-quincy.

This type of anti-quincy Ryuken was one I saw in another fic a while ago, one I can't remember. I personally felt his methods to convince Uryuu of their barbarity were extreme, but pointed out something to me. Quincy are absolutely _horrifying._ That even after admitting Quincy were in the wrong, Uryuu continues to fire to kill with his arrows when fighting hollows means one of three things: He received an incorrect education of what a hollow was (plausible, considering quincy would have no real way of knowing that the horrific demons weren't monsters in life as well), he hasn't really considered what actually happens to those he shoots, or he just doesn't care that he's condemned _hundreds_ if not _thousands_ of separate souls to oblivion. Alone, the arrancar he killed after infiltrating Hueco Mundo (You know, the one where he did the comically stupid "I'm firing 10,000 arrows a second at you" schtick.) was probably a former adjuchas, meaning he was made up of numerous Gillian, which are made up of around a hundred hollows, each potentially having eaten anywhere between 2 and several dozen souls.

Also, no, the pairing is _not_ instantly Ichigo/Senna. Senna is, however, Ichigo's amusing crazy stalker lady. Whether anything comes of this may come into play later.


End file.
